Southern Air Transport Company Analysis

Southern Air Running head: Southern Air

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Southern Air Transport -- “The Uncommon Carrier” Name Redacted Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

Southern Air Abstract

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This paper examines the current performance of Southern Air Transport Company, recommends actions to ensure continued success, and attempts to predict their success in the coming century. Southern Air Transport (hereafter referred to as Southern Air or Southern) is a privately held company, so financial data has been difficult, at best, to get. Southern has grown at a steady and balanced pace, and its owner's tough and savvy business decisions have propelled Southern Air to the forefront of American cargo carriers. My recommendations are few. If “keep doing it the way you’re doing it” isn’t too trite, that’s my first one. The only other area where I feel they can improve their business advantage is in their Lockheed L-100 fleet. As the only cargo carrier in the world with a sizeable L-100 fleet, they should modernize it and seek to press their competitive advantage by exploiting the aircraft’s unique capabilities. Considering their current success, balanced growth and diversification, and demonstrated ability to make good business decisions, I see their success continuing well into the next century.

Southern Air Introduction

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Southern Air Transport began service in Miami in 1947 with a single C-46 cargo aircraft, and has grown to more than 600 employees around the globe. Today they fly the world’s largest commercial Lockheed L-100 fleet, along with Douglas DC-8s and Boeing B-747-200s. Southern is an all-cargo charter airline providing wet-lease services to other airlines around the world, as well as ad-hoc charter services for freight forwarders, shippers, and other major world organizations like the United Nations. Their specialty is transporting “outsized cargo” for construction, oil exploration, and relief work to remote areas of the globe that other means of...